Marvel’s Secret Invasion

Released on Disney+ on June 21, 2023

Runtime: Six 38-58 Minute Episodes

Rated TV-14

Who do you trust when your enemy can literally become anyone. Nick Fury pays the price for making a promise in the 90s the the Skrulls we met in Captain Marvel. They are ready to have their own home again, no matter the cost. Fury fights back against these shape shifting aliens in a show that is part spy movie, part psychological thriller.

Themes:

   Spies, super heroes, MI6, aliens, space, death, killing, losing those close to us, traitors, love, marriage, commitment, lying, super powers, fighting for what is right, doppelgangers, protecting human life, always having a back up plan, government, immigrants, times of peace, and times of war.

Language:

I have been disappointed in how much language the Disney+ Marvel shows have had. You will hear H-ll, da-n, a-s, sh-t, and bast-rd multiple times. One character also makes a crude joke about “beating your meat.”

Stuff to be aware of:

   There is a lot of violence. Explosions, people being shot, one man gets his finger cut off, man falls from a building and dies, people get stabbed/cut, and other spy and superhero type fighting and violence. There is a scene that takes place in a meat locker with meat hanging up and someone gets hung on a meat hook. There are scenes of torture, terrorism, and and bombs going off in public areas. This one actually seemed a bit more graphic than past Disney+ Marvel shows.

Overall:

   I have read the “Secret Invasion” comic series that this show is based on and I knew the show could not live up to its comic book counter part. Mostly, because none of the MCU’s super powered heroes were in it. However, I still went in expecting to enjoy it. By the time the last episode’s credits rolled I walked away disappointed. There have been a few great Disney+ Marvel shows (I’m looking at you Wanda Vision, Hawkeye, Loki, and Moon Knight) but I feel like many others are disappointing. Lacking in good stories or retelling origin stories that seem very familiar to what we have seen. One issues with this one I had is that there was never any big reveal surprises. What I mean is this: it was easy to point out who was a Skrull or the writers gave it away immediately. At no point in the show was I like, “man they surprised me with that character being a Skrull.” In the comic many times you didn’t find out someone was a Skrull unless they died and it was always a surprise. The writers didn’t handle the mystery of shapeshifting aliens as well as they could have.

The writers also killed off some main characters from the MCU and I felt more sad about how they didn’t get to die on the big screen after all this time instead of them actualy being killed off. Then, some characters got killed off before you even got to really know them. When we made our way to the big super powers fight scene at the end it didn’t feel like the show had earned it. Plus, I did not feel invested or like I even really know the “hero” I was supposed to be rooting for.

Overall, it was okay.